McCuthchen happy to be face of Pirates

By Tom Balog, tom.balog@heraldtribune.com

Friday

Mar 30, 2012 at 9:43 PM

BRADENTON — Andrew McCutchen's $51.5 million contract is a signing of the times for the Pittsburgh Pirates, a bold, exemplary move, as is the trade for right-hander A.J. Burnett, to shed their reputation as a low-budget, losing team.

McCutchen, for the next six years, is going to be the highest profile, and, general manager Neal Huntington hopes, the most productive Pirate as well, while being paid the second-largest contract in team history.

The 25-year-old center fielder from Fort Meade will make $4.5 million in 2013, $7.25 million in 2014, $10 million in 2015, $13 million in 2016, $14 million in 2017.

The Pirates have a $14.75 million option for 2018, with a $1 million buyout after signing the extension earlier in spring training.

"We've got a player who is worthy of that," Huntington said Friday. "We worked hard to fight the right person, the right player, the right terms and the right time."

"He can be a force in the game," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "He can win you a game a number of different ways."

McCutchen, who was named a reserve on the National League All-Star team last season, would have become eligible for arbitration for the first time after the 2012 season. But he elected not to wait and test the market.

The 11th overall pick in the 2005 draft, McCutchen is entering his third full season with the Pirates, with whom he made his major-league debut in 2009.

He made $452,500 last year and will make $500,000 this season.

"I want to be here," McCutchen said. "If I didn't want to be here, I'd wait it out. So ... I wanted to get something done. The way I look at it, I've always been here. I haven't been anywhere else. I don't know anything else and wasn't looking to go anywhere else."

"It's nice to have him believe in us as an organization, to be willing to give up three years of free agency for us," Huntington said.

There's more value to the Pirates, beside McCutchen's game, according to Bob Nutting, the Pirates chairman of the board.

"In addition to being a dynamic player on the field and a leader in the clubhouse, Andrew is an outstanding representative of the Pirates in the community," Nuttting said, when McCutchen's contract was announced, in early March.

Outfielder Jose Tabata, 23, is the only other Pirate with a long-term contract. The Pirates are betting $15 million over six years, with three club options, that Tabata, like McCutchen, will develop into an outstanding all-around player.

"Andrew's biggest impact is how he plays," Huntington said. "He stands out because he plays so hard.

"When your best player plays with that energy, that enthusiasm, that passion, it sets the bar awfully high for everybody else."

Notebook

Hurdle said the Pirates are not going to make their final roster cuts until they get to Philadelphia early next week for the final two preseason games.

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